Straightening device for coiled strips of stamps or the like.



r w. c. LANDON. STRAIGHTENING DEVICE FOR COILED STRIPS 0F STAMPS OR THELIKE. APPLICATION FILED NOV-1, I916.

1 Patented Spt. 3, 191%,

WITNESSES: l/Vl/f/VTOR Warren 5.

WARE-annc.- LANDDN, on neeziris'rnn, NEW YORK, ess-renon'ro MULTIPOSTCOMPANY, or'noonns'rnn, NEW Yorker-,- A oenronamron on NEW YORK.

STRAIGHTENING DEVICE'FOB; COILED STRIPS 0F STAMPS ORLI'KE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. a, wire.

anatee fired man-ata- 1, 11 516. serie'ino'. 1283879".

To all 'aflqom ii /may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN Linn a, of Rochester, in the county of Monroeand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Straightening Devices for Coiled Strips of Stamps or the like; and ldo hereby declare the following to be a fnll, clear, and exactdescription of the sanie; reference being had to the aceoinpanyii'mdrawings, forining a part of this specification, ml to the referencecharacters i'narked thereon. A

My inyention' has forits object to proii'de a straightening oranti-clirling device" for renio in'g the eurl from strips of stamps orthe like Which are supplied in rolls or cons shell as strips of postagestamps used in stamp affixing ina chine s', whereby the curl in thestamps orl'abel s due to their close confineinent in the coil may beremoved previous to their application to the objects to Which they areto aiiiXed'. To these and other ends the invention consists in certainimprovements and con'ibinations of parts, all as will be hereinaftermore fully described, the novel reattiresteing pointed out in theclaiins at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: y

Figi re 1 is an enlarged sectional new; titre of a machine illustratingoneeinbodi' ment of my iiiventi'on applied thereto;

Fig; 2 is a rear face" View of the straightening and stamp guidinginecha nisin, and

3 is a detail perspective View of the top portion ofthe removablestainpgni'de' carrying a portion of the straightening or anti-curlingine'ans. p I

Similar reference characters throughout the several Views indicate thesa ne parts.

In the use of stamporlabel aiiiXers, particularly in cases Where thestamps orlabels are Wound in strips npon spools it has been found thatby reason of the confinement 0f the strips in the roll that thecurvature p'rodii'eed in the separate stamps tends to remain thereinwhen they are fed from the machine which occa sionally interferes NVlththeir proper application by the affixing mechanism. It is the object ofthe present invention to provide a satisfactory device for reactin 'thecurl in the stamps or labels to be fed from the affixers or otherinachinesbefore said stamps reach the point Where they are to beaiiixed. In carrying out this idea I have preferably mounted thestraightening dei ice upon a yieldi'ngly non'nted stamp guide nieniberhehi'nd Which the stamps are passed, thus obwdating' the necessity ofeniplo'ying additional means for siipp'ortin this part.

VVhile'fhaYe shown the straightening or aiiti-cu'rl'er applied to astamp afiixer it will be understood that the saine may be readily usedin connection With stamp or label dispeiisingj or feeding machines ofvarions ty bee if desired.

he machine in conjunction With which my present invention is einpioyed,comprises a base 10 upon Which is inonnted a frame 11 carrying areciprocating plunger 12' provided With a stamp affixing head 13. At oneside of the machine the frame 11 is open and reino abl'y fitted thereinis a circular stamp or label case 14, containing a roll of stamps orlabels 15 on a spool 16, the end' of the strip passing downwardlythroiig'h the gnid'eway composed of thebacle ing and. the removable andfleXihl'y inonnted guide meinb'er 18. The backing and guide inelnbersterininaite in laterally curved portions 19 and 20 respectively Whiclare adapted to direct the free end of. the stanip or label strip beneaththe affixing head 13. The strip is fed for wardly and successivelyby asuitable feeding mechanism carried on the shaft or plunger 12: and inthe present instance coinpri esfeeding fingers 21, the pointed ends ofWhich'are adapted to engag the perforations between the siiccessi estainps dining their downward nioveinent. The reinov'abl'e guide forguiding the stam strip and preventing the Withdrawal of the same, by aforce applied t'o' its free end, is provided With ineans for mountingsaid n1ein ber whereby it may be conveniently removed to facilitate theinsertion of the stainp strip in a manner Which Will be pres entlyexplained. The removable guide is disposed in front of the giiideway 17between the side Walls 22 of the casing and coniprises the spaced sides23 betw een Which the feeding fingers 21 project, the sides beingconnected at their lower ends by the cnr ed portion 20 cooperating Withthe cnr ed portion 19 of the backing as previously stated to guide thestamp strip beneath the affixing head 13. The upper ends ofthe sides 23are connected preferably by an integral horizontal bar 24 adapted toform the movable and yieldable portion of the straightening oranti-curling device. The bar is supported by the angular portions 25 ofthe guide plates 26. The lower wall 27 of the container carries arounded straigl1tedge 28 beneath which is provided a curved recess 29 atthe top of the backing or rear guide 17. The rear face of thestraightening or anti-curling bar 24 is provided with a bowed or curvededge 30, the central point of which is the first to come in contact withthe stamp strips at their centers whereby a greater pressure is producedupon the central portion of the strip than upon the sides or edgesthereof. The edge 30 is rounded and extends into the recess 29 beneaththe rounded lips 28 instead of being positioned directly oppositethereto. With this arrangement of the cooperating parts the edges of thestrip beneath the straightedge 28 are brought relatively nearer togetherby effecting a greater deflection of the center of said strip, thusserving to remove the curl in the paper strip as it enters the guideway.The strip passing between the edges 28 and 30 being flattened in thismanner, the separate stamps, or portions severed from the end of thestrip do not our]. or warp when fed into affixing position. The meansfor resiliently mounting the anti-curling bar 24 in contact with thestamp strip comprises, in the present instance, the same means employedfor yieldingly holding the movable guide in clamping position upon thebacking 17 and comprises the laterally projecting horizontal ends 31 ofthe U-shaped member 32 attached to the guide member by means of the cars33 at the bottom thereof. In forming the parts just described I haveshown on the U-shaped member 32 outwardly curving loops 34 which extendbeyond the edges of the side walls 22 to afford means whereby the membermay be conveniently gripped by the operators fingers, so that he maysimultaneously retract the projecting ends 31 and thus release the guideand remove it from the guideway. The clamping or guide member is causedto normally exert a slight frictional contact with the stamp strip andto this end there is applied to each side of the member a spring 35 heldin position at one end by an upstanding lug 36 on the side 23 and havingone end 37 secured beneath a lug 38 an another end 39 provided with aneye 40 embracing and bearing against the horizontal end 31 of theU-shaped member 32. By this arrangement the extended ends of the springare adapted to yieldingly hold the removable guide and anti-curling barin engagement with the underlying stamp strip. The

movable guide being thus yieldingly held will, when displaced at itslower end, rotate about the points 41 by reason of the movement affordedby the slots 42 and any additional tension under such circumstances isimparted to the spring 35 so that the greater the strain applied to thelower end of the stamp strip the greater becomes the clamping actionbetween the plates 26 and the backing 17 of the guideway. This is alsotrue with respect to the anti-curling bar and curved edge 28 as undersuch circumstances, the former will be moved nearer the latter to moretightly compress the stamp strip between the two. The shape of theanti-curling bar, as shown in Fig. 3, and its location beneath thestraight edge is particularly adaptable for removing the curl from stampor label strips which are gummed on one surface. In coiling the stripsthe gummed surfaces are on the inner sides of the convolutions and whenthe strips are fed forwardly the curved lips 30 of the bar 24 bearingagainst the paper not only bends it in a direction reverse to that whichit occupied when in the coil, but also deflects it at the center torestore the fibers of the paper and stretch the gum coating on its innerface. By mounting the bar 24 so that it may yield means is provided foraccommodating any inequalities occurring in the paper strip such as theenlargements or thickened portions occurring where the ends of shortstamp strips are pasted together.

I claim as my invention:

1. A straightening device for stamp strips or the like, comprising aguideway, means for feeding strips through the guideway, a curved baradjacent the guideway, and a wall having a curved recess with which saidbar cooperates to straighten the strip.

2. In a straightening device for stamp strips or the like, thecombination of a casing having an opening and a curved recess adjacentthe opening, a bar having a curved edge, means for resiliently pressingsaid bar into said recess, and means for feeding said strip over the barand curved edge in the recess to straighten the same.

3. A straightening device for stamp or label strips comprising means forsupporting a stamp roll, a strip supporting edge, a guide for saidstrip, means for feeding the strip across the face of said edge and uponthe guide, and means connected with the guide for applying pressure uponthe side of the stripopposite the side engaging said edge and along thecentral portion thereof to a greater degree than upon the sides of thestrip.

WARREN C. LANDON.

fiopiel of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the commissioner oi Patents, Washington, D. 0.

